Drop-switch railway-siding.



. PATBNTED MAY 7, 1907. W. R. KIRK. DROP SWITCH RAILWAY SIDING.

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APPLICATION FILED AUG. 22.

D FISH PATENTED MAY 7, 1907.

W.-R. KIRK. .DROP SWITCH RAILWAY SIDING.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 22. 1906.

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5 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

@5496 M gra UNITED STATES WALLACE R. KIRK, OF KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI.

DROP-SWITCH BAILWAY-SIDING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 7, 1907.-

Application filed August 22,1906. Serial No. 331,665.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WALLACE R. KIRK, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Kansas City, in the county of Jackson and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Drop-Switch Railway-Sidings, of which the following 'is a specification.

* My invention relates" to drop-switch railway sidings, and is designed more es ecially as an improvement in the railway si mgs on which I secured patents No. 553,247, and No.'59'1,977, Jan. 21, 1896, and Oct. 19,1897, respectively.

- The primary tion is to roduce an efficient, reliable and practical rop-switch siding, which can be operated by a single attendant.

To this end the invention consists in oertain novel and peculiar features of construe tion and combinations of parts as hereinafter described and claimed; and in order that it may be fully understood reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in

which- Figure 1, is a top plan view, partly broken away, of a railway slding embodying my invention. Fig. 2, is a vertical longitudinal section taken on the line II- II of Fig. -1. Fig. 3, is a similar View but with the drop fplatform dropped or depressed. Fig. 4, is a transverse section taken on the dotted line IV of Fig. 1. Fig. 5, is a similarview but 4 with the drop platform depressed and one of the sidings" upon the same to form a temporary portion of the main track, Fig. 6, is an end view of one of the sidings.

top view of a portion of one of said sidings, the flooring of said siding being broken away. Fig. 8, is an enlarged transverse section taken on the dotted line VIII of Fig. 1. Fig.

. 9, is a detail perspective view of a part of the drop platform, and contiguous parts. Fig. 10, is a top plan view of part of the. drop platform. Fig. 11, is a vertical section on theline XP-XI of Fig. 10. Fig- 12, is anenlarged section on the dotted line XII of Fig. 5. Fig. 13,'is a detail .pers eotive view of the roller shown in Fig. 12 an of the boxing carrying said roller. Fig. 14, is a vertical section on the dotted line XIYof Fig.12.

Referring to the" drawings in detail where like reference numerals indicate corresponding arts ,-1 designates .a narrow passage -or a eyway between buildings 2, and openings in the buildings whichTfcommun1-.

object of the present inven Fig. 7, is a oate with the alleyway and exceed a car in height, width and length.

4 are the main line tracks which. pass through the alleyway and the latter is preferably boarded up, not shown, so that wagons or carts may pass through the alley.

'5 is a shallow pit or trench between the oppositely disposed openings 3, the latter preferably registering with the pits 6, or said pits may be as deep as the cellars under the uildings, and form part of such cellars. The pit 5, has its bottom concreted by preference as at 7, and laid therein longitudinally are stringers 8, supporting a suitable number of cross ties 9..

laterally adjustable slide-frame consists of a pair of longitudinal girders 10, a pair of lighterand arallel girders 11, and tie bars 12, the latter eing secured to the under sides of the girders in any suitable manner. This frame is approximately the same length as the pit but somewhat narrower than the latter so as to have lateral movement therein and is mounted slidingly on the cross ties 9, with the tie bars 12 disposed in the same plane as and against certain of the cross ties 9, as shown most clearly in Figs. 2 and3.

13 designates a plurality of tie-bars connecting the lower side of laterally adjustable frame to bell crank levers 14 mounted on a framework 15 erected in the cellar of one'of I the buildings, a suitableopening, not shown being formed in the building Wall for the passage of the tie bars. The bell cranklevers are connected by a link 16, and one of them is pivotally connected to the-lever 17 fulcrumed as at 18 on framework 15, and adapted for operation in a horizontal plane. Said lever extends through a suitable opening or slot in'the wall of the building at the inner side of thepit, and connects pivotally with the lever 19, suitably fulcrumed as at 20, and projecting up through the stationary platform 21, whereon the attendant stands who operates the apparatus as hereinafter explained; 1

The drop platform is constructed as follows :22, 23 are longitudinal girders corresponding in form and size preference to g rders 10 and 11 respectively and norm' lly resting upon the latter'as shown in Fig. 4. 25 are cross ties secured to the upper edges of said girders, and 25 are blocks secured upon girders 22 and 23 between and having their upper sides flush with the cross ties 25, so as to provide acontinuous solid support for the track rails hereinafter re ferred to of the platform. By the use of these blocks the necessity of closely s wed cross ties will be obviated, certain of th latter being disposed closer together than the others to form supports for a series'of rolle s 26. Each of said rollers has a rigid shaft or trunnions 27, and 1s fitted between the similar sections 29 of a boxing 28 and projects slightly above the top of the latter, said boxing having raised surfaces 30 around the roller so as to protect the latter from injury by contact with the Wheels of the wagons passing through the alley, and also to shut out dirt as far as practicable.

The boxing is formed with openings 31, containing half bearing boxes 32, IS journals for theshaft or trunnions 27 theupper portions of the openings 31 being provided with a suitable packing 33, which will hold a lubricant for a considerable time. To guard against the access of dust or dirt to the bearingboxes, arch plates 34 are secured to boxing sections 29 at opposite sides and concene trically of the roller, and circular plates 35 are shrunk upon the hubs ofsaid rollers andare of suflicientriameter to fit between saidarch plates and the boxing sections as shown clearly in Fig. 12. By this arrangement any dust ordirt passing down through the'boxing will either dropdirect to the bottom of the pit or will drop uponthe hubof the roller at the inner side of the guard plates 35 and will be dislodged therefrom and drop to the bottom of the pit upon the next movement of the roller. To adjust the rollers vertically to compensate for settling of the structure .or for any other reason, a series of thin shims 36 fit between the bottoms of openings 31 andhalfboxes 32, and also extend'through registering' slots 37 in the contiguous cross ties, the outer ends of the shims being closed by caps 38, which are removed when it is desired to drive an additional shim in place or withdraw one, The lubricant is supplied to the bearing of the roller by tubes 39, terminating in angular portions 40 having their horizontal arms extending through cross ties 25 and into the openings 31. Each boxing 28 is mounted upon filling strips 41, the boxing and filling strips being secured to the supporting ties 25,

by tie bolts 42, and retaining nuts 43, as shown clearly. The upper sides'of the boxings are flush with the tops ofthe rails 44- of the drop platform and also flush with the corresponding. surfaces of the flooring 45, and in this connection it should be stated that the flooring is provided at a suitable point. with an opening controlled by a door 46,- to enable a workman to pass down into the pit for purposes of inspection or re air. It might further be stated that suita le provision for circulation of air and for drainage or water can be made to the end that the life of the vari ous stringers and ties shall be lengthened.

each connected by chain 53 to the periphery of a winding drum 54, mounted .rigidly upon a transverse shaft 55, journaled in suitable bearings 56. Said shaft extends into the same cellar or pit 6, as tie bars 13, and also through the wall of the building and carries at its opposite end by preference, a drum 57 to which is attached the upper end of a cable. 58, equipped with a weight 59, the weight. being'for" the purpose of assisting the operator to raise the drop platform and to prevent the latter from dropping forcibly when its supporting slide frame is withdrawn from beneat The means shown for raising and lowering the drop switch is a lever 60 secured to shaft 55 but it is tobe understood of course that any other suitable means for operating said shaft may be employed and thatany other suitable means may be substituted for lever '19 for the operation of the slide frame.

Upon a suitable framework 61 erected in each cellar or pit 6, are a series of bearing boxes 62, forming journals for rollers 63, arranged in transverse alinement with and havtheir upper surfaces slightly above the rails of the drop platform, when the latter occupies its depressed position as shown in Fig. 5.

Sidings 64 of exactly the same width as the drop platform normally occupy and form the flooring of the openings 3 of the buildings. These sidings are also of the same thickness as the drop platform and are each constructed as follows :.65 designates a series of transverse I-beams, there being one of these beams for each transverse series of rollers, andconmeeting said I-beams throu h the medium of angle plates 66 are longitu inal I-beams 67, with suitable transverse braces 68 between them, for the purpose of equalizing the strain of a car uppn' track rails 69, the top of the flooring 70 being flush with that of said track rails and also with that of the drop platform when the latter is elevated asin Fig. 4. Each siding is provided with two or more rack-bars 71, meshing with a pinion 72, driven through an intermediate train of gearing by a motor 73, of any suitable type, there being one motor for each siding in order that thejobber in one of the buildings can operate the switch and shove the car from the alley- Way into the opening-3 of his building or vice Versa without incommoding or interfering with the business of the jobber at the opposite side of the alley.

In Figs. and 11, it will be seen that the floating bar 52 is composed of two sections at opposite sides of and equal distances from chains 50 and 53, to prevent side draft of the floating bar, as would occur with the consaid cross pieces and nuts.

struction shown in the otherfigures, the sections of bar 52 being connected at intervals by rigid cross pieces 74:. Instead of connecting the chains 50 and 53 ,rigidly or unyieldingly to the floating bar, they are in said Figs. 10 and 11, connected to bolts 75, and 75 respectively, extending slidingly through cross pieces 74,and engaged at their opposite ends y nuts 76 and 76, coil springs 77 and 77*, being mounted upon said bolts and between These springs will be very stiff and strong so that conjointly they will sustain the weight of the drop platform without yielding if desired, though one or any number less than all of them, will yield slightly under the weight of said platform to the end that the weight of the latter shall be imposed upon all of the chains so as to avoid danger of breakage, it being apparent that the slight settling or twisting of one end of the structure might so disarrange the relation between the various chains that those at one end would be caused to sustain a greater strain than the other if such occurrence was not prevented by the provision of means for distributing such strain.

In the manipulation of lever 60, to lower the drop platform, the drums 54 are turned in the direction indicated by the arrowFig. 11. This tends to relieve the tension on chains 53, and impose the weight on the drop platform, the slide frame being of course withdrawn through the medium of bars 51 ,onto chains 50, and as a result of the loweringof the drop platform, the floating bars are moved endwise from the position shown in Figs. 2, 10 and 11, to the position shown in Fig. 3. Upon the reverse manipulation of lever 60, to relevate the drop platform, the

drums 54 turn in the opposite direction from that indicated by the arrow and therefore pull upon bolts 75 the springs of course equalizing the strain on the chains. This action moves the floating bars endwise to their original positions, and in such movement, through the medium of chain 50 and bars 51, relevates the drop platform as will be readily understood.

Assuming that the jobber at the right hand side of the alley desires to have a carload of goods disposed in the opening 3 of his building so that he can remove the goods from the car at leisure and without interfering with traffic through the alley, he manipulates lever 60, so as to imperceptibly raise the drop platform and then while holding said platform thus elevated, he operates lever ii-#115 m v 19 to move the supporting slide frame from the position shown in Fig. 4, to the position shown in Fig. 5, and as this object is accomplished, he reverses the operation of lever 60, so as to raise counter weight 59 and lower the drop platform, such movement continuing until said platform rests u on the cross ties 9, as shown clearly in *ig. 5. He then through his motor moves his siding from the position shown in Fig. 4, to the position shown in Fig. 5, that is runs it from supporting rollers 63 to and upon supporting rollers 26, where it will be noticed its track trails 69 register with and form a temporary portion of the main track. The train now entering the alley stops with the proper car upon said siding, and said car is then uncoupled from the next car or cars. The motor is then op erated to return the siding to its original position. The attendant then grasps the lever and with the assistance of the counter weight 59 re'levates the drop platform'and holding it in such position manipulates lever 19, to force the slide frame laterally under the girders of the drop latform which is then permitted to settle own upon said slide frame. The engineer then backs the cars ahead of the drop platform onto the latter and couples up with the next one and backs out of or asses through the alley, so as to leave the atter open to the passage of another train or for the passage of wagons.

From the above description it will be apparent that 'I have produced a drop switch railway siding which embodies the features of advantage enumerated as desirable in the .statement of invention and which obviously may be modified in various particulars without departing from the principle and scope or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention, it being understood furthermore that the mechanism employed for operating the switch can be utilized as a means for operating a signal which would show whether the drop platform occupies its elevated or de ressed position.

aving thus described the invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters-Patent, is

1. A drop-switch railway siding, comprising a drop platform provided with track rails which normally form a section of the trackway, and a frame for movement in a substantially horizontal plane and underlying and normally supporting said platform.

2. A drop-switch railway siding, comprising a drop platform provided with track rails which normally form a section of the trackway, a frame for movement in a substantially horizontal plane and underlying and normally supporting said platform, and means for withdrawing said frame from its position as a support for the platform.

3. A drop-switch railway siding, comprising a drop-platform provided with track rails which normally form a section'of the trackway, a frame for movement in a substantially horizontal plane and underlying and normally supporting said platform, means for withdrawing said frame from its position as a support for the platform, means for lowering the platform, and a second platform provided with track rails and adapted also for movement laterally upon the lowered platform, until its track rails register with and form a temporary section of the trackwav.

4. A drop-switch railway siding, comprising a drop-platform provided with trackrails which normally form a section of the trackway, a frame for sliding movement in a substantially horizontal plane and underlying and normally supporting said platform, means for withdrawing said frame from its position as a support for the platform, means for lowering the platform, a second platform provided with track rails and adapted also for movement laterally upon the lowered platform, until its track rails register with and form a temporary section of the trackway, means for returning said second platform to its original position, means for reelevating the drop-platform, and means to restore the slidable frame to its original position as a support for the drop platform.

5. A drop-switch railway siding, comprising grooved rollers suitably supported, a drop platform, a floating bar, flexible connections passing over said rollers and forming links between the floating bar and said drop platform, a shaft provided with a'drurn, and a flexible connection engaging said drum and secured to it at one end and to the floating bar at the opposite end.

6. A drop switch railway siding, comprising a drop-platform provided with track rails, grooved rollers suitably supported, a floating bar, flexible connections running over the rollers and connecting the floating bar and drop platform, and means for moving the floating bar horizontally to cause it to elevate said platform.

7. A drop switch railway siding, comprising a drop latform provided with track rails, grooved rollers suitably supported, a floating bar, flexible connections running over the rollers and connecting to said latform, and yieldingly connected to the oating bar, a frame normally supporting the platform, andmeans to withdraw said frame in a substantially horizontal direction from its position as a support for the platform.

8. A drop switch railway siding, comprising a drop platform, provided with track rails, grooved rollers suitably supported, a floating bar, flexible connections running over the rollers and connected to said latform, and yieldingly connected to the oating bar, a frame normally sup orting the platform, means to withdraw sal frame in a substantially horizontal direction from its position as a support for the platform, a

drum, a flexible and yielding connection between the drum and floating bar, and means to operate the former and cause the floating bar to raise the platform.

9. A drop switch railway siding, comprising a drop latform provided with track rails, and with transverse series of rollers rojecting slightly above the track rails, a

frame normally supporting said platform in its elevated position, means to move said frame in a substantially horizontal plane to effect the depression of said platform, and a second platform provided with longitudinal track rails and with transverse track rails in alinement with and adapted to travel upon the rollers of the drop platform when deressed.

10. A dro -switch railway siding, comprising a drop p atform provided with track rails and with transverse series of rollers projecting slightly above the track rails, a frame normally supporting said platform in its elevated position, means to move said frame in a substantially horizontal plane to effect the depression of said platform, transverse series of track rollers at one side of the drop platform, a second platform provided with longitudinal rails and provided also with continuous or unbroken transverse rails resting upon the series of rollers at one side of the firstnamed platform, and means for moving said second platform laterally until its transverse rails engage and rest wholly upon the rollers of the drop platform when depressed.

11. A dro -switch railway siding, comprising a drop pl atform provided with track rails, and with transverse series of rollers projecting slightly above the track rails, a frame normally supporting said platform in its elevated position, means to move said frame in a substantially horizontal plane to effect the depression of said platform, transverse series of track rollers at one side of the drop platform, a second platform provided with longitudinal rails and provided also with continuous or unbroken transverse rails resting upon the series of rollers at one side of the first-named latform, means for moving said second platform laterally until its transverse rails engage and rest u on the rollers of the platform when depresse a transverse rack bar secured to the second platform, a pinion engaging the same, and means for operating said pinion in one direction or the other.

12. A drop platform, embodying cross ties, boxings secured to and between certain of said cross ties, and composed of sections secured together and provided with openings, half boxes in said openings, rollers projecting slightly above the boxings and having shafts or trunnions journaled in said half boxes, and means for lubricating the bearings of th rollers.

same and the bar, a shaft carrying said grooved wheel, a drum, a cable secured to I5 said drum, a counter balance weight for the platform secured to said cable, andmeans to operate said shaft to raise the weight and lower the platform and vice versa.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature, 20 in the presence of two witnesses.

WALLACE R. KIRK Witnesses H. O. RODGERS, v G. Y. THORPE. 

